Syngenta Thrive - 1Q/2013 - 29

Growing Together · 1Q/2013

RESOURCE DIRECTORY
Click on the links below to find additional content at FarmAssist.com
and other resources, or to navigate within the issue.

Welcome

Letter

Steadfast Support
As the 2013 season comes to life, the heart of agriculture beats loudest on the
farm. After all, the fields that stretch across the American landscape bear the
crops that define our industry. But experts beyond the farm—from the retailer
just down the road to the scientist a continent away—also work hard to keep
agriculture’s pulse strong. And so do we.
With our global reach and access to key policymakers, the men and women
of Syngenta are enthusiastic ambassadors of agriculture, intent on helping
others understand its tremendous contribution to the planet. Recently, our chief
executive officer did just that on a high-profile stage usually reserved exclusively
for heads of state. During the 2012 G8 Summit, Mike Mack discussed the topic
of food security with President Barack Obama and seven other world leaders,
who gathered at Camp David to discuss global economic drivers. The U.S. and
international media, also present
at the event, dramatically
“... the men and women of
expanded the reach of this
Syngenta are enthusiastic
discussion by generating
ambassadors of agriculture,
articles and broadcasts that
intent on helping others
reflected Mike’s positive
understand its tremendous
portrayal of agriculture.
contribution to the planet.”
In a smaller, but equally
—JeSSica c. adelman
important setting, members
of our Washington, D.C., staff
advocate for agriculture every
day, lobbying for policies that will give our heavily regulated industry the freedom
it needs to operate and the advanced technologies you need to prosper. We also
invest millions of dollars and countless hours using science-based facts to keep
essential-to-the-farm tools, like atrazine, available to our customers.
Two years ago, we integrated our crop protection and seeds businesses
into “One Syngenta,” so that we could give you an even better toolbox of
total-crop solutions. In this issue of Thrive, you’ll see evidence that the strategy
is working, especially in the area of water optimization, where a combination of
our traits, seed treatments, crop-applied chemistries and service helped U.S.
corn growers find a silver lining in last year’s drought. You’ll also see how
Syngenta researchers are collaborating with some of the best minds in
agriculture to overcome pest challenges in a variety of crops. In addition, you’ll
learn how, internally, we’re joining forces across the North America region to
step up our support of United Way, an organization that benefits the communities where we live side by side with you, our customers.
Still in its infancy, the new year’s triumphs and challenges are unknown. But
one thing is certain: We, at Syngenta, will continue to give you our steadfast
support, so that together we can keep the heart of agriculture beating loud and
strong throughout this season and beyond.

Listen to an excerpt from an
interview with Coby Long.

“Steadfast Support,” page 1
• GreenState TV

Jessica C. Adelman
Vice President, Corporate Affairs
Syngenta

Zer ing
in on
Zebra
Chip
Top potato scientists collaborate to combat elusive
disease that is leaving its mark on U.S. tubers.
By Steve Werblow and Allison Elliott

For more inFormation, links to Mike Mack info.
14 · thrive · 1Q/13

ew snacks can match the flavorful crunch of the
potato chip—and few people can resist eating
more than one. By some estimates, Americans
consume over 4.3 billion pounds of potato chips
each year. A majority come from potatoes grown in the
U.S., where soils and climate provide a solid foundation
for growth—and where diseases, both old and new,
provide ongoing challenges to crop yield and quality.
The most recent disease to hit the country’s potato
acreage threatens to wield a direct blow to the thriving
processed potato market at large. Named after the thin
striping it causes, zebra chip, once confined to Texas and
other Southwestern potato-growing regions, is steadily
spreading northward. The discovery in 2011 and again in
2012 of potato psyllids in southern Idaho carrying the
bacterium that causes zebra chip—Candidatus Liberibacter solanacearum—confirms that the disease has now
reached North America’s largest potato production area.

Problematic Pathogen
“There are a lot of unknowns with this disease,” says
Chris Clemens, Ph.D., agronomy service representative
for Syngenta in Washington state. “But one thing is clear:
We are dealing with something that has the potential to
devastate the potato industry in the Pacific Northwest,
and we don’t want it to spread.”
Although there is no threat to human health, the dark
marks zebra chip leaves behind on tubers renders the crop
unmarketable. It causes other problems as well: Infested
plants produce fewer tubers, and the tubers that are
produced tend to sprout prematurely in storage. Yield
losses also can occur—up to 87.2 percent in a 2010 trial by
Joseph Munyaneza, Ph.D., an entomologist with the USDA
at the Agricultural Research Service in Wapato, Wash.
“At this time, no field west of the Mississippi River is
safe from the possibility of a zebra chip outbreak,” says
Munyaneza, who is credited with first linking psyllids to

TEchnology

Precision Ag 2.0
With advances in precision agriculture, growers can adapt to specific
growing conditions and better plan for the future. | By Suzanne Bopp

lthough the technology that drives precision ag changes
constantly, the concept, and even the term, is not new.
“Precision ag didn’t just pop up in the last few years,” says
syngenta technical solutions Development Manager Bruce
Battles. “even 10 or 15 years ago, we were doing a lot of work
on precision ag.”
as the practice continues to evolve, Battles says it’s extremely
important for retailers and dealers to stay on the leading edge
of training, equipment and trends to help their grower customers
do the same.
at the most fundamental level, precision agriculture has a
straightforward goal: optimizing returns on inputs while preserving
resources. Initially, precision ag focused on gaining efficiencies on
the farm and understanding exactly how different areas had
different needs, which led to developments, such as automatic
seed shut-off on planters that help prevent growers from overlapping in the field.
“now, that’s evolving more,” Battles says. “We’re learning how
hybrids respond to different soil types and are adjusting populations on the go throughout the field. We’re working on rapidly
understanding the data and how to apply it.”

Ground-Level Benefits
For growers, the advantages of applying that data are many,
starting with saving money by using inputs more efficiently. “We
are able to increase yields by using variable-rate technology with
chemicals and fertilizer, so a customer can take a soil sample
and put just the right amount of inputs on an area of the field. It
reduces input costs and saves our customers money,” says ryan
Molitor, marketing supervisor for raven Industries, a full-line
solution provider offering GPs, automatic steering, planter-control
systems and field computers. “Precision ag saves fuel costs,
too—that’s one of the big advantages of automatic steering.”
Increased yields are another benefit. Growers can bring
organic matter up in their low-yielding areas and increase their
yields farm-wide, says Josh Messer, an agronomist with Plains
Grain & agronomy, llC. “We get an idea of where fertilizer and
seed are better utilized to grow yields on those acres. We want to
use just enough to maximize what we know an area is capable of
producing and not over-fertilize. eventually, you could take your
average yield and start pushing it up. one customer has done this
for six years on a piece of ground, corn on corn, and he’s seen
the average yield getting better and better every year.”

6 · thrive · 1Q /13

4.3
billion pounds
of potato
chips are
consumed
each year
in the U.S.

Opposite page: A potato chip
made from a potato infected
with zebra chip; this page: zebra
chip-infected potatoes.

1Q/13 · thrive · 15

PhoToS: (BoTh PageS) JoSePh MUnyaneza

“Precision Ag 2.0,” page 6
• Raven Slingshot How it
Works page

IllustratIon: ryan etter

Beyond
Drought

See more photos from the Puls’ farm and other
growers’ fields during last years’s drought.

If there is a silver lining to the lack of rain in 2012,
it’s seeing the potential of water optimization.
By Linda Kane

Sarah Puls, grower,
and Dave Mills,
Syngenta sales
representative,
examine the dry
soil on her farm in
New Holland, Ill.

y some accounts, growing corn in
2012 was like “putting plants in a frying
pan.” A lot of sleep was lost—and a lot
of character was gained—as U.S. agriculture
weathered the worst drought in 56 years. For
many growers, it was a particularly harsh
reminder of just how much agriculture relies
on water to produce crops. For others, it was
an eye-opening look at how far the right
combination of genetics, crop protection and
management can push the envelope of crop
production under moisture stress.
“We had some nice rains early on but not
a drop after mid-June, and we still had some
fields that made their best yield ever,” says
Gary Plunkett, a grower and seed dealer in
central Iowa. Despite the heat and alarming
lack of rain, his corn after soybeans produced
180 to 200 bushels per acre.
Plunkett is not alone. U.S. corn growers
collectively pulled a silver lining out of last year’s
drought, producing an average corn yield of 122
bushels per acre. It’s a hard drop from last
year’s average of nearly 153 bushels per acre,
but it’s also nearly a third more than the corn
crop produced during the 1988 drought.
“It’s still kind of hard to believe, given the
growing conditions we faced,” says Plunkett.

Pooling Resources
David Elser, head of water optimization at
Syngenta, is not as surprised. “Individual
advances in seed treatments, fungicides, traits
and other technologies are helping crops use
water more efficiently,” says Elser. “But the
biggest gains in crop per drop are coming
from multiple strategies applied throughout
the growing season.”
Elser points to the combined effect of
CruiserMaxx® Corn 1250 insecticide/fungicide
seed treatment, followed by Quilt Xcel®
fungicide, as a prime example. In addition to
providing crop protection, these complementary
technologies encourage root mass, reduce plant
transpiration and keep plants greener longer.
“Every year, we’re learning more about how
to push the envelope of water optimization,” says
Eric Tedford, Ph.D., technical product lead for
fungicides. He points to new research on
azoxystrobin, the active ingredient in Quadris®
and Quilt Xcel fungicides, as one example.
Researchers at University of Nebraska and
Kansas State University found that corn grown
under suboptimal irrigation could yield 15 to 25
bushels more when treated with Quilt Xcel.
“What’s even more interesting,” says
Tedford, “is that suboptimal irrigation plots

PHoTo: NICK BURCHEll

10 · thrive · 1Q/13

See more photos from the Leadership
at its Best® event in Greensboro, N.C.

“This field takes a big yield hit every year because we get patches on that sandy
knoll that just burn up—no ears, no green matter—just the fried-up start of a corn
plant. But with Agrisure Artesian, even as dry as it was, the corn stayed green, kept
growing and gave us producing ears in places where we normally lift the combine
head because there’s nothing there to harvest.”—SARAH PULS

“Zeroing in on Zebra Chip,”
page 14
• Agri-Mek SC insecticide
miticide
• CruiserMaxx Potato
insecticide/fungicide
seed treatment
• Fulfill insecticide
• Platinum insecticide
• Potatoes crop page
on FarmAssist
®

1Q /13 · thrive · 1

ReSouRCe diReCtoRy

know-how

1Q/13 · thrive · 11

“Beyond Drought,” page 10
• Agrisure traits
• Avicta Complete Corn
• Corn crop page on
FarmAssist
• Corn Rootworm
• Lexar herbicide
• Quilt Xcel fungicide
• Pythium
• Rhizoctonia
• Root Health page on global
Syngenta site
• Troy Griess, Syngenta
agronomy service
representative, interview
on Agrisure Artesian

“Ground Work,” page 18
• Agrisure traits
• Besiege insecticide
• Corn crop page on
FarmAssist
• Corn rootworm
• Force CS
• Warrior II with Zeon
Technology
™

Ground
Work

With corn rootworm populations on the rise,
taking a multifaceted approach pays off. | By Darcy Maulsby
David Keffeler (left), grower and seed dealer, and Troy
Griess, Syngenta agronomy service representative,
inspect the soil on Keffeler’s farm in northwest Iowa.

18 · thrive · 1Q/13

1Q/13 · thrive · 19

Syngenta researchers are pioneering hybrid
wheat varieties for commercial release in a
new greenhouse in Junction City, Kan.

See more photos from the Syngenta
research site in Junction City, Kan.
Best practices

SeedS

Growing With the Grain
Syngenta uses innovative breeding methods to create new wheat hybrids.
By Stephanie Murray

ith an eye on the future, Syngenta continues to
expand its leadership position in the world of wheat
breeding by using innovative technology platforms, such as
genetic-marker and doubled-haploid (DH) technologies, to
advance trait discovery. Syngenta, which has the largest
wheat breeding program in North America, recently expanded
its Junction City, Kan., research site to include an advanced
hybrid wheat greenhouse alongside a DH laboratory.
Set amid acres of field test plots and rolling farmland, the
new Junction City greenhouse currently houses some of the
first-ever hybrid wheat varieties that Syngenta is developing
for commercial release. Studies show that hybrid wheat has
the potential to produce greater yields than pure-line varieties.
“We believe hybrid wheat can offer growers yield stability
and consistent performance,
particularly across fields with
“Growers produce
variable soil types and qualities,”
nearly half a
says Dustan Ridder, a Syngenta
billion acres of
hybrid wheat breeder at the
wheat around the
Junction City site. “By the end of
world, but it is not
this decade, we expect to have
as technologically
hybrid wheat available to growers.”
advanced as other
The worldwide reach of Syngenta
crops like corn
will help it accomplish this goal, says
and soybeans.
Norm Dreger, the North American
We’re working to
head of Cereals at Syngenta. He
change that.”
notes that the company is drawing
—Norm dreGer
on its experiences developing hybrid

22 · thrive · 1Q /13

barley in Europe to achieve the same success with hybrid
wheat in North America.
Greater Volume of Varieties
Meanwhile, Syngenta continues to expand its broad
portfolio of wheat varieties through more traditional
breeding techniques—with a high-tech twist.
“Globally, we see a huge opportunity for growth in the
cereals market,” says Dreger. “Growers produce nearly half
a billion acres of wheat around the world, but it is not as
technologically advanced as other crops like corn and
soybeans. We’re working to change that.”
Since 2000, Syngenta has tripled its investments in marker
and DH technologies in the U.S. The company is the first to
market a pacific Northwest wheat variety developed through
DH breeding—a process that cuts the breeding cycle nearly
in half, from 10 to 12 years down to 6 to 7 years. Normally,
when breeders cross two wheat lines, the generations of seed
that follow are different until they stabilize and produce desired
traits. With DH breeding, the plants stabilize more quickly,
allowing breeders to save valuable time in selecting for traits.
“We are also leading the industry with our deep breeding
technology toolbox, which includes marker-assisted
recurrent selection, native trait stacks, hybridization and
biotechnology,” says Rollie Sears, ph.D., senior science and
technology fellow at Syngenta. “Growers are already seeing
the benefits of this effort with 13 new wheat varieties
introduced in 2012 and 19 more in pre-commercial trials.”

“Growing With the Grain,”
page 22
• Cereals crop page
on FarmAssist

pHoToS: MATTNiCHolS.CoM

™

VERN HAWKINS, REGIONAL DIRECTOR,
SYNGENTA, NORTH AMERICA

DAVID MORGAN,REGIONAL DIRECTOR,
SYNGENTA, NORTH AMERICA

Syngenta Thrive - 1Q/2013

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Syngenta Thrive - 1Q/2013